Questions about a Littering Ticket

Hi there,

I'll start off by saying that I am only 20 and have never had anything negative in my record prior to this ticket. Anyhow, I received a littering ticket ($110) from an OPP officer a few days ago and I have a few questions that are really bothering me about it:

1) When I apply to a job and a background check is run on my record, will this offense show up?

2) How long will this offense stay on my record?

3) Are my chances of getting into the states without trouble hindered severely? Is there a possibility that I won't be allowed to go across the border?

4) Are my job prospects severely hindered by this ticket?

5) Is this a serious offense?

6) I know that demerit points are not affected with this charge, but is there a possibility that my insurance premium can rise?

Thanks,

A panicking student

1-No this is just a provincial offences ticket so it will not show up in a criminal records back ground check.

2-This depends on what law you were charged under. If you were charged under a municipal by-law then the record will be cleared as soon as you pay the fine. If you were charged under the Highway Traffic Act, it would be on your publicly available driving record for 3 years, same as any traffic violation.

3-No, the US only cares about criminal offences. Since this is not a criminal offence it will not harm your ability to cross the border. If they banned every person who ever got a provincial offences ticket most drivers would not be able to cross the border as most people who have been driving for awhile have had at least one ticket.

4-No, this will have very little impact on getting a job. It will not show in a standard criminal record check. The only place it might show would be on your driving record which many employers don't bother checking. Even the ones that do check driving records don't tend to be too bothered by one minor violation. They are really just checking to make sure you are not a maniac behind the wheal.

5-No it is a minor violation.

6-This will depend again on which law you were charged under. If it was a municipal bylaw then it will not appear on your driving record and so there would be no insurance implications. If you were charged under the Highway Traffic act then it is possible their might be an insurance increase. However many insurance companies forgive one minor offence every three years. Unfortunately each insurance company's policy is different so you would have to check with the company to know for sure.

No this is just a provincial offences ticket so it will not show up in a criminal records back ground check.

Where can this ticket possibly show up? And who has the authorization to see it?

This depends on what law you were charged under. If you were charged under a municipal by-law then the record will be cleared as soon as you pay the fine. If you were charged under the Highway Traffic Act, it would be on your publicly available driving record for 3 years, same as any traffic violation.

I was charged under the Highway Traffic Act but I was not in a vehicle at the time. A few friends and I were simply walking. Would this still show up on my driving record?

This will depend again on which law you were charged under. If it was a municipal bylaw then it will not appear on your driving record and so there would be no insurance implications. If you were charged under the Highway Traffic act then it is possible their might be an insurance increase. However many insurance companies forgive one minor offence every three years. Unfortunately each insurance company's policy is different so you would have to check with the company to know for sure.

Like I said, I was charged under the Highway Traffic Act but was only walking at the time. Would insurance companies be able to differentiate whether I was walking or not based on the information available?

Where can this ticket possibly show up? And who has the authorization to see it?

The only place it will show up is on your driving abstract. Anyone can order a copy of your 3-year uncertified drivers record if they are willing to pay the service fee. This is the version of your driving record that insurance companies can order because it is public record. Anything older then three years is not shown on this record and can only be viewed by police or certain government agencies such as the Ministry of Transportation.

I was charged under the Highway Traffic Act but I was not in a vehicle at the time. A few friends and I were simply walking. Would this still show up on my driving record?

I think so, although someone could correct me on that.

Like I said, I was charged under the Highway Traffic Act but was only walking at the time. Would insurance companies be able to differentiate whether I was walking or not based on the information available?

The driving record typically only has a one line entry showing what you were convicted of, it doesn't go into great detail about the circumstances, so I don't think there is any way for them to tell the difference.

The above having been said, a littering ticket really is a very minor infraction so I wouldn't get too stressed about it. The only issue you might have is with your auto insurance company who might give you a minor rate increase, or they might forgive one minor ticket depending on their policy.

If you are worried about it you could always book a court date and go for a plea bargain. If I were going to plea bargain this ticket I would check and see if the municipality this happened in has an anti-littering bylaw. If they do you can see if the prosecution is willing to let you plead guilty to the bylaw infraction instead of the Highway traffic Act offence you are charged with now. This will take some time and some research on your part, so you have to decide how much effort you really want to put into this.

Would the plea bargain be option 2 or option 3 on my ticket?

Would the prosecutor be present at all for option 2?

Would the accusing officer be present for option 2?

If Option 2 says "Early Resolution Meet with Prosecutor", you can select that one. If not, select Option 3 for trial.

If you meet with the Crown for an early resolution meeting, the officer will not be present.

Do Bylaws stay on any of your records? (Like on a drivers abstract or even in something like a police background check)

Is littering considered a non-moving violation? (For insurance purposes)

How long approximately does it take for a first appearance to be scheduled?

bubblefire wrote:

Do Bylaws stay on any of your records? (Like on a drivers abstract or even in something like a police background check)

No, as far as I know they do not appear in any kind of background check.

bubblefire wrote:

Is littering considered a non-moving violation? (For insurance purposes)

Insurance companies make no distinction between moving and non-moving violations. They rate each infraction as minor, major or serious. Littering is rated as minor. This only applies to littering charges under the Highway Traffic Act. Littering tickets issued under a municipal bylaw don't show on your driving abstract and thus would not be counted by your insurance company.

bubblefire wrote:

How long approximately does it take for a first appearance to be scheduled?

This varies widely by jurisdiction. Some places are backlogged for months, others it only takes a few weeks.